Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Stochastic Electron Acceleration By Cascading Fast Mode Waves In Impulsive Solar Flares, James A. Miller, Ted N. La Rosa, Ronald L. Moore

Faculty and Research Publications

We present a model for the acceleration of electrons from thermal to ultrarelativistic energies during an energy release fragment in an impulsive solar flare. Long-wavelength low-amplitude fast mode waves are assumed to be generated during the initial flare energy release (by, for example, large-scale restructuring of the magnetic field). These waves nonlinearly cascade to higher wavenumbers and eventually reach the dissipation range, whereupon they are transit-time damped by electrons in the tail of the thermal distribution. The electrons, in turn, are energized out of the tail and into substantially higher energies. We find that for turbulence energy densities much smaller …